forward" barrel that moved forward and was returned to battery by spring power. The XLM also had a threaded barrel with a slide lock allowing for suppressed operation both in semi and quieter non-actuating mode. A stainless steel version, not part of the Semmerling Corporation's efforts, has been available at request from the American Derringer corporation since about 1995. Phillip Lichtman died on June 28, 2017. Finish and accessories The original standard color was matte black with highly polished slide frames. A complete high polish blued finish or a hard chrome plating were optional. A factory presentation model was produced with a high polished gold plated slide. Grips Plastic Ebony Cocobolo "Thin kit": steel side plate Dot fastners: installed in grip panel screws to use with spring steel belt "holster" for concealment Accessories Optional two-stage trigger Gun holster Magazine holster Skeleton "thin kit" grip, allowed for round counting Minor replacement parts kit Major replacement parts kit Operation The Semmerling fires from a static, fully locked breech, producing considerable recoil. The barrel mechanism is manually pulled forward to eject the fired round, then pushed back to chamber the next round. This can be accomplished by thumb. For carry, the slide is locked in the closed position by means of a tiny lever located in the middle of the weapon. By carefully pulling the trigger back approx. 1/4 inch and pressing on the lever, the lever clicks into "lock" mode. Hold the lever down and release the trigger. The Semmerling's action is now locked closed with a round in the chamber. To fire, the trigger is pulled back fully. When there is a cartridge in the chamber, the extractor protrudes 1/8 of an inch, so as to act as loaded chamber indicator. It has no safety, decocker, or slide release. The number of remaining rounds could be seen by using the "thin grip" kit or by removing the grips when carrying the LM4. Semi automatic variant A semi-automatic variant known as the Lichtman Model Semmerling 3 was developed as a back up pistol intended for the US Armed forces. This variant differs to the Semmerling LM4 as it uses simple blowback operation and notably has an underbarrel design. See also List of pistols Underbarrel pistols FN M1900 GMC pistol Jieffeco Model 1911 References External links Product description of the American Derringer Reissue at their corporate site The Long Arm of the Law